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Man charged after drone crashes into Yellowstone lake

A Dutch man accused of crashing his remote-controlled drone into a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park has been charged with breaking multiple federal laws. Park officials say Theodorus Van Vliet crashed a

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Man charged after drone crashes into Yellowstone lake

Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
8:24 p.m. EDT September 3, 2014

Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic hot spring is known for the bright multihued algae and bacteria coloring its edges, and the deep blue color at the center of its approximately 200-foot-wide pool.(Photo: Todd Atherly, Your Take)

A Dutch man accused of crashing his remote-controlled drone into a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park has been charged with breaking multiple federal laws.

Park officials say Theodorus Van Vliet crashed a drone into the Grand Prismatic Spring on Aug. 2. Rangers at the time said he reported the crash but left the area. The drone remains submerged inside the spring. Park officials are worried leaving it there could damage the spring, as could efforts to remove it.

Grand Prismatic is known for the bright multihued algae and bacteria coloring its edges, and the deep blue color at the center of its approximately 200-foot-wide pool. Visitors aren't allowed to walk up to the water's edge, and must remain on a boardwalk set back from the shoreline.

Park officials say a German national faces charges of violating the ban on operating unmanned aircraft, giving a false report to a government employee and commercial filming without a permit, after he was accused of crashing a drone into Yellowstone Lake on July 17.

An Oregon man is accused of flying a drone over the Midway Geyser Basin and near bison on Aug. 19. He faces charges of violating the ban.

The remote-controlled aircraft usually carry cameras aloft, allowing pilots to snap photos or record videos from vantage points inaccessible from the ground. Some of the craft, which are about the size of a pizza box, buzz loudly as their multiple propellers keep them airborne.